Things I Don't Remember
by pjsta
Summary: Sequel to THE MEMORY CHARM. Having spent most of the summer holiday at school apparently 're-learning' his first and second years, Harry feels like he is ready for anything the world of magic can throw at him. But he didn't expect the dementors to remind him of horrors from the past, horrors he can't even remember... Rated T to be safe. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**A.N.:**** Hello again! This took longer than expected to post, but at last, 'Things I Don't Remember' is up and ready to be read! WARNING: This is the sequel to 'The Memory Charm'. If you haven't read that first, I advise you to do so before you read 'Things I Don't Remember'! As always, feel free to review, but no flames please! After all, this is only my second fan fiction.**

**Disclaimer:**** Any character/ thing/ creature you recognise are J.K. Rowling's. I don't own anything.**

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1. Back to School

Platform 9 and ¾ was packed with people giving cries of 'hello' to those that they knew. I stood awkwardly with my real aunt and uncle- Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. I had only spent a couple of weeks at their house this summer, to get to know them a bit again. And I had hated it. I had spent four of the six-week holiday at Hogwarts apparently re-learning the things I was supposed to have learnt by now in Hogwarts or in life. Having spent most of the summer on my own or with my disapproving relatives, I had been looking forward to seeing the people from my dorm again and most of all, Ron, Hermione and Ginny, the only people I had been able to keep in touch with. Uncle Vernon had locked up my owl, Hedwig, but Ron had sent me letters from he and Hermione using his owl, Errol, and I had replied using his owl. I'd had a letter from Ginny, Ron's younger sister a several times, too. She seemed a bit attached to me now though, and I wasn't sure I liked it.

At long last, I spotted a mass of people all with red hair. I recognised the youngest two instantly. There was Ron, pushing a trolley with his trunk and rat cage sat on top. Behind him was Ginny with her trunk on a trolley like Ron's. Ron caught sight of him and came up to him, pushing his heavy trolley my way. Then Ginny spotted me too and blushed, going the same colour as her hair.

"Alright, Harry?" He asked me, "You managed to survive the summer?"

"Yeah, just about," I grinned, "how are you? You look a bit too pink!" Ron grinned back.

"It was sunny in Egypt," he shrugged, then, "did you get my card?"

"Yeah, but Errol was too tired for a trip back to Egypt. For a few days, anyway." Ron shook his head.

"Stupid bird," he muttered. "Ah well, at least he delivers the post _before_ he collapses. Have you seen Hermione yet?" I shook my head.

"No and I've been standing here with this lot for about-" I checked the clock- "-ten minutes." Timings were another thing I had 'relearnt' during the four weeks at school

"Unlucky. She'll be here soon, I expect. It's already quarter to eleven, and she wouldn't dare miss the train."

Sure enough, a couple of minutes later, we spotted the mane of thick, bushy, brown curly hair that belonged to Hermione.

"Harry! Ron!" She called when she spotted us. She almost literally flew to us and hugged us both, though Ron's seemed to be slightly awkward. "It's great to see you again! How was your holiday, Harry? What was it like, being at school all by yourself?"

"Let him speak, Hermione!" Ron cried, exasperated, "How's he supposed to answer your questions if you don't let him talk?" Hermione grinned sheepishly. Her parents reached us and she started putting her trunk on the train.

"It was alright," I said, in answer to her questions, "at least, school was. The rest of the summer was boring though. Was it always like that?" Ron nodded.

"Last year they put bars on your windows because you stopped your uncle from making a deal with some rich customers." I gaped at him.

"What? Really?" I asked, "Are you sure you're not pulling a GL?"

"GL?" asked Hermione, confused.

"A Gilderoy Lockhart- telling me something that isn't true but me believing it is true- like how he tried to make me think he's my uncle."

"No, it's definitely _not_ a GL," Ron replied firmly. I nodded, relieved. Apparently I was much more "gullible" now- I believed much more than was real.

I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Harry," Ron's dad said in my ear, "how are you?"

"Erm- I'm good, thanks, you?"

"Yes, yes, very well, thank you." He hesitated. "Would you mind if I could have a quick word?" I shrugged and nodded. He turned and led me down the platform.

"I don't know if you have heard, Harry, but there is a prisoner loose from Azkaban, the wizard prison." He began.

"No, I hadn't heard." I told him, "What has he got to do with me?"

"Thirteen years ago, the prisoner, Sirius Black, was a big supporter of You-Know-Who, and he believes...well, he believes that if he kills you, then his old master can return." I stared at him. "All I ask, Harry, is that you take extra care this year, and however long it takes to capture him. Whatever you do, don't go looking for him. He will kill you without a second thought." I nodded.

"I'll keep my distance," I promised.

"Good. That's everything, I believe. Good luck this year, Harry."

"You too, sir." We headed back to the train where the others stood, ready to go, and their trunks on the train.

"Come on, Harry, time to go!" Ron said cheerfully. I said a quick, awkward goodbye to my relatives and less awkward goodbyes to Ron and Hermione's parents, then clambered onto the train. Somewhere hidden by the steam from the train, someone blew a whistle. Other students crowded the windows, waving goodbye to their relatives.

XXX

"Are you alright, Harry?" Hermione asked, breaking into my thoughts, "You're very quiet."

"I'm just thinking." I replied absently.

"What about?" she asked curiously.

"Something Ron's dad said before we left." I replied.

"Which was what?"

_Damn Hermione's curiosity!_ I thought. I reluctantly told them what Mr Weasley had told me, grateful that there was only the three of us and a sleeping man who Hermione had guessed was a new teacher. I was even more grateful that he was asleep.

"He's right, Harry," Hermione said as soon as I had finished, "You mustn't go looking for him. He's very dangerous, and if what I've heard is true, he once killed thirteen Muggles with one curse, _and_ his old best friend! You have to avoid him!" I nodded glumly.

"I wasn't _going_ to try and find him, Hermione! Why would I cross the path of some mad-man who wants me dead?" Hermione opened her mouth to say more, but the compartment door opened and a witch with a trolley of food appeared by the door.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" she asked, cutting off what Hermione was going to say. I knew that while the witch who pushed the trolley was here, she wouldn't say anything, but when she wasn't… she was going to strike at the first chance she could get. I was going to have to be careful.

XXX

It was getting dark outside, and Ron and Hermione were talking about Hogsmeade, the most local wizarding village to Hogwarts.

"There's Dervish and Bangs: it's like the Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment shop in Diagon Alley. Then there's Honeydukes: it's a sweet shop and has _everything_! Pepper Imps, Sugar Quills, great big Chocoballs filled with strawberry mousse and clotted cream, sherbet balls that make you float whilst you're sucking them…"

"It's a fascinating village historically too." Hermione added, "That's where the Shrieking Shack is: it's rumoured to be the most haunted house in Britain!"

"Where did you find that out?" I asked her, as Ron kept naming various magical sweets, completely oblivious to what she was saying.

"_Sites of Historical Sorcery_. It also says that the inn was headquarters for the Goblin Rebellion in 1612. In fact, that's one of the topics in _A History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot, if you've read it since the Chamber."

"Read what?" Ron asked, trying to tune into our conversation again.

"I can't say I have. Professor Binns didn't create much enthusiasm for the subject last summer."

"Not surprised," Ron said, "He makes us all go to sleep."

"You know, history of magic is actually interesting," Hermione began, but Ron cut across her.

"Really? Even when _Binns_ teaches it?"

"Well… no," Hermione conceded, "but then again, Ron, you don't even _try_ to listen."

"That's because he puts me to sleep!" Ron cried, incredulously.

"You aren't seriously saying that you can get head or tail out of his droning, are you?" I asked her, amazed.

"I can actually!" Ron gaped at her. Hermione looked slightly flustered now and continued, "but I find him just as dull as you do." Ron closed his mouth with a satisfied nod. We were quiet for a minute.

"Must be nearly there by now," Ron said, trying to see outside the window. The train began to slow.

"But- we- we can't be there yet!" Hermione cried, confused, looking at her watch.

"Then why are we stopping?" asked Ron. The train stopped completely. Thuds told us that some trunks had fallen from luggage racks somewhere in the train. The lights flickered, then switched off, plunging us into darkness.

"What's going on?" Ron asked.

"Does this usually happen?" I asked.

"No. D'you think we might have broken down?"

"I doubt it." Came Hermione's voice, but she sounded unsure. Ron tried to see out of the window.

"I- I think… I think something's moving out there…" Ron said quietly, uncertainly, "I think someone's coming on board…" we heard our compartment door open and something large and heavy fell on our legs.

"Ouch!" we cried all at once, keeping our voices hushed.

"Sorry!" the person said quickly, "Do you know what's happening?"

"Neville?" Ron asked, "Is that you?"

"Yeah," Neville said, "Ron? That's you isn't it? Hermione, are you here? And Harry?"

"We're here, Neville, and no, we don't know what's going on." I told him.

"Could we have broken down?" Ron suggested, as the weight lifted from our legs.

"I don't know." Hermione said. "I'm going to talk to the driver." I felt her pass by, heard the door slide again and two squeals of pain.

"Ouch!" two voices said at once. One was Hermione's, the other I recognised immediately as Ginny's.

"Who's that?" Hermione and Ginny asked together.

"Ginny?"

"Hermione?"

"What are you doing?"

"I was looking for Ron, Harry and you."

"Come in and sit down."

"Ouch!" I said as I was suddenly sat on by Ginny and found her long red hair was suddenly in my mouth.

"Oops! Sorry, Harry!" Ginny said, probably blushing, although I couldn't see her face in the dark.

"Don't worry about it," I told her, "are you alright?"

"Yes," she replied, and slid off my lap onto the empty seat beside me. "Are you?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I replied.

"Ouch! Whoever that was, that was my foot you trod-" Hermione began, but was interrupted by a hoarse voice suddenly saying:

"Quiet!" The teacher had finally woken up. Silence fell. "Stay where you are!" A soft crackling noise followed, and then we could see a little bit. The teacher seemed to be holding something that was giving out light. It looked like little flames. The teacher rose to his feet, just as the door slid open yet again.

But whatever stood in the doorway wasn't human; at least, it didn't feel like it. Before I looked, I felt cold; colder than I'd ever been in my life. I felt as though I would never be happy again, kind of like how I'd felt at the Dursley's sometimes.

Then I looked.

Illuminated by the teacher's flames was a tall, hooded figure, something that somehow seemed even more dangerous than the Basilisk.

The temperature plummeted, penetrating my body like a knife, right into my heart. Fog clouded over my eyes. I couldn't feel; I couldn't see. I felt like I was drowning in cold, being dragged down... down... down... Then, from what felt like miles away, I heard screaming. Terrible screams. It was a woman's. I wanted to help, but I couldn't move, I was too deeply stuck in the fog...

"Harry! Harry! Are you all right? Can you hear me?" Someone was hitting my face.

"What...?"

I opened my eyes. The floor was shaking; lanterns above me were lit. I could see again. I could feel again. I hadn't drowned. The Hogwarts Express was moving again. I lay on the floor of the compartment, and I realised that I must've fallen off my seat and onto the floor. Had it really happened then? Or had it just been a dream?

One look at the other's faces and I knew it had been real. They were all too pale.

Ron and Hermione were kneeling next to me. Ginny was sitting in a corner next to the door with her knees drawn up to her chest, her arms wrapped around her knees, her long red hair forming a curtain around her small figure. She was shaking. I felt again the urge to protect her, just like I'd had in the Chamber last year, when Tom Riddle was using a little girl for his evil plans. The teacher and a boy from my dormitory I recognised as Neville were sitting behind Ron and Hermione: Neville sitting, the teacher crouching.

I had cold sweat on my face. Ron and Hermione helped me onto the seat next to Ginny, on her right.

"Are you OK?" Ron asked me nervously.

"Yeah." I glanced uneasily at the door, as if the creature was still there. "What happened? What was that thing? Why was it here? Where did it come from? Who- who was screaming?" My questions came before I could stop them.

"Harry, nobody screamed," Ron told me, more nervously still. I stared at him, disbelieving.

"But I heard it. It was a woman. Someone was screaming." The others exchanged worried looks.

"That, Harry, was a dementor." The teacher said, changing the topic before the silence became awkward. The others seized this change immediately with relief.

"They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban." Ron said.

"A dementor sucks the happiness from a person, and, in some cases, forces a person to relive their darkest memories."

"Even if the person doesn't remember them?" I asked. The teacher looked slightly puzzled, but replied, "Yes, even if the person can't remember it happening. It is possible, Harry, that you were reliving one of your darkest memories when you heard the screaming. We didn't hear any screams, which means that the scream you heard was part of the memory." He reached into his pocket and drew out a chocolate bar. He snapped it into pieces and handed a piece to each of us.

"Here. Eat this. I'm going to talk to the driver. Please excuse me."

He strode out into the corridor and disappeared from sight.

I took a bite from my chocolate and felt slightly better.

"Did any of you... you know..." I shifted in my seat uncomfortably, "pass out? Faint?" They shook their heads.

"I felt terrible though, as though I'd never be cheerful again." Ron said sounding hollow. Ginny, who looked worse close up, gave a small sob. I put my arm around her shoulders, let her lean her head on my shoulder and leant my cheek on the top of her head.

"Why was it here?" I asked.

"It was probably looking for Sirius Black." Hermione answered at once.

"Did you feel it too?" I asked Ron.

"Feel what?" He asked sharply.

"That it was worse than the basilisk." Ron nodded.

"Yeah. I felt it all right."

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**A.N: Well now the third year is underway! Please let me know any thoughts or reviews! The next chapter should be up shortly.**


	2. 2 Draco Malfoy and Divination

**A.N: Thank you so much to the person who put this on SA! Here is chapter 2!**

**Disclaimer: as before, anything you recognise is not mine.**

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2. Draco Malfoy and Divination.

The five of us sat there in silence for a few minutes. No one had anything to say. Ginny and I stayed in the same position, perfectly comfortable and not at all awkwardly. We finished our pieces of chocolate and waited for the teacher to come back.  
Our silent compartment all looked up at once when the door slid open. But it wasn't the teacher. It was a blond, pale haired boy with a mean but handsome pointed face. He had on black robes like I had bought from the 'Madam Malkins' shop in Diagon Alley this summer, except that it had green trimmings, not red like mine. Two boys stood behind the pale boy. These two were complete opposites of their leader. They were dark haired, burly, largely built and had a stupid look, unlike their leader's whose was clever.

"All right there, Scarhead?" the boy asked, apparently talking to me. His voice was cold and cut through the silence easily, like a Muggle plane through the air.

"That depends on who's asking," I told him, and Ginny and I went back to the position we had just come out of.

"Ooh look! Potter's got a girlfriend!" The two dark haired boys jeered at their leader's remark. Ginny and I both went pink.

"She's not my girlfriend." I told him. The Gorillas (the other two boys) grinned and made "ooh" noises.

The blond laughed cruelly.

"Not your girlfriend? As if."

"Shove off, Malfoy," Ron cut in.

"Why should I do that, Weasley?" he asked tauntingly. The Gorillas chuckled gleefully.

_Is that all they can do?_ I thought, _follow their leader about and chuckle or jeer?  
_

"Is there a problem here?" a voice asked. It was the teacher's.

"Who-?" began Malfoy.

"I am Professor Lupin."

"Um, no, Professor, there isn't."

"Good. May I go through? Thank you." He closed the door in Malfoy and the Gorillas' faces. The boys left us alone. Apparently they weren't stupid enough to pick a fight in front of a teacher, new or not. Professor Lupin sat back in his seat and went back to sleep. Yet again, Ginny and I went back to our position: my arm around her shoulders, her head on my left shoulder, my head leaning against the top of hers.

XXX

After the train ride, carriages took us from the station up to school. I could remember travelling in them twice before. The first time when I was dropping Ron, Hermione and Ginny off at the station at the start of the summer, the second was when I went to the station to go to the Dursley's. Ginny, Ron, Hermione and I managed to get one for just us.

"So who was the pale boy with the gorilla-like body guards?" I asked Ron while the girls talked.

"Draco Malfoy. He's a Slytherin and none of us like him. Don't you remember him from last year?" Ron told me. I shook my head.

"Nope. I don't remember him. What about the Gorillas? Who are they?"

"I take it you mean the other two?" I nodded.

"Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. They're usually known by their surnames. No one except the other Slytherins likes those three; they're all gits."

"What year are they in?"

"Unfortunately, ours. And we often have classes with the Slytherins, which means we're often forced to see their ugly git faces. One of the things they like to try to do best is make our lives, as Gryffindors, miserable."

"Great. Just great."

"I know."

"How come they didn't bother me at the end of last year?"

"I'm not sure. I think you were too preoccupied to notice."

XXX

Draco Malfoy certainly _did_ try to make our lives miserable. He started in the Great Hall.

I remembered the first time I could remember walking into the great hall. My robes had been filthy, grimy, covered in dust and in some places, ink. Ron had been the same. Everyone else had been in their pyjamas and I had felt as though I should have had cleaner clothes on. I'd had a shower, but Ron and I had been unable to change our robes. Just walking into the room had taken my breath away. It still did, but less than before.

Hermione and I hurried in late as Professor McGonagall had needed to speak to us about what had happened on the train. Hermione and I sat down just as Dumbledore began his speech. I was trying to listen, but a hushed "Psst! Potter!" came from behind me. It was Malfoy. I turned around.

"Is it true that you fainted?"

"Bug off, Malfoy." Ron told him through gritted teeth, as Hermione turned me around towards our table. Ginny, who was sitting opposite me, squeezed my hand gently and said "Just ignore him. Remember, Professor Lupin told you that you had nothing to be ashamed of. Other people have fainted from them as well. Dad went to Azkaban once and came back a shaking wreck."

"That's right: run to your girlfriend, Potter." Malfoy's voice called quietly. Hermione seized my arm to stop me from turning around and casting a curse on him. Malfoy shut up.

"How did he find out?" I whispered to the others.

"I don't know, but Harry, just forget about it." Hermione said. I nodded as food appeared in front of us.

XXX

Malfoy didn't stop there. The next morning, he was doing fainting impressions for the entertainment of the Slytherins.

"Ignore them, Harry." One of the Weasley twins told me as Ron, Hermione and I sat down next to them.

"Yeah, he didn't look so cheerful last night when he came running into our compartment because of the dementor." the other said.

"And you can see how happy he looks after our first Quidditch match: Gryffindor versus Slytherin, first game of the season, remember? I smiled nervously and nodded. I'd heard about Quidditch. I'd heard that I was good at it and the youngest seeker in a century, but I'd only had two days for flying last summer. The others had all been for schoolwork: one subject a day.

Hermione examined her new timetable.

"Ooh good, we have some new subjects today!" I looked at mine.

"I didn't do Divination or Care of Magical Creatures in the summer." I told Ron and Hermione.

"Well of _course_ not Harry, they're our _new_ subjects. We don't start new subjects until third year." Hermione said obviously. Ron was frowning at Hermione's time table.

"Hermione, your timetable doesn't make any sense! It has you down for three classes at once! _How_ in the name of Merlin's Beard are you going to be able to go to all of them without missing a lesson?"

"I've sorted it all out with Professor McGonagall." She told us firmly.

"Is that what she wanted to talk to you about?" I asked her. She nodded.

"But you seem to have about ten subjects a day! There isn't enough time!" Ron pressed.

"I'll manage. Pass the marmalade." Ron decided to drop the subject, at least temporarily.

XXX

It took us at least ten minutes to get to the North Tower for Divination. We got lost as well, so that's why it took so long. I never thought I would see the day when Ron and Hermione got lost at Hogwarts. It was they, after all, who had taught me_ my_ way around, with the help of Ginny. We ended up having to ask a portrait of a mad knight called Sir Cadogan in desperation. When we finally reached the rest of the class, we were out of breath from running and hurrying up hundreds of steps. The rest of the class was gathered on a landing with no doors except for a trapdoor above our heads.

"How're we supposed to get up there?" I asked quietly. As if in answer, the trapdoor swung open and a silvery ladder descended right in front of me. We climbed the ladder one by one.

"Welcome to Divination," a soft voice said from behind us, making us jump. I turned and saw a woman with a thin body and the largest glasses that I had ever seen. She had long greying hair and about six beaded necklaces. She ushered the class into the larger part of the room and told us to sit on funny circular cushions. We did. I soon found that I hated the cushions. They were immensely squishy and I couldn't keep upright. I had to keep shuffling and fidgeting to stop myself from falling into the cushions.

Our new teacher, Professor Trelawney, gazed at each of us behind her thick glasses.

"Well! What a bunch we have here! Two of our number shall leave us before the end of the year. Some of our number shall die young." She gazed around again. "My dear," she said to one of the girls who sat near the front, "I can see that the thing you dread the most will come to pass on October 16th. Be warned. And you, my dear," she said to Neville, "Is your grandmother well?"

"Erm, I think so..." Neville said nervously.

Professor Trelawney began to pace around the semi circle that the funny cushions and tiny tables made. She kept making little remarks like "Remember dear: when something bad happens, it is not always your fault.", or, "My dear, remember that danger is near on March the 5th." It was quite sickening how she called everyone "my dear". Then she reached Ron, Hermione and me. I guessed she would not simply pass by me and not say anything. And I was right. To Hermione, she said,

"You, my dear, who dislikes the non-academic subjects, will struggle to grasp something of which you cannot see the logic of." She turned to Ron. "You, my dear, may think yourself as chained to the one who cannot remember, and imprisoned by a family who don't always see you as a separate person; one among so many, but remember this: when you have the chance to fly, take it. Take it and you shall be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams. But be careful. Where there is good, there is bad, to keep a balance. There will be another opportunity which promises to make you fly. Make that choice and the world as you know it will never be the same." Then she turned to me. Dread at what she could reveal filled the bottom of my stomach. I tried to quieten it quickly.

"Now, my dear, you are _most_ intriguing." Then she spoke almost like she was telling a poem, like something she was merely reciting. "Your past is a blank but very much alive. Your future is dark and winding. You face many choices between the good and the easy, while darkness itself is rising. I sense something dark- it seems to be shifting, I can't work it out quite yet. There's something else too, a good thing, thank goodness, but it won't come along just yet."

At last, she finished her poem and moved on to someone else. She finished walking around and got back to her small table and squishy armchair.

"Well! What a group! What a group! And now, together, let us cast ourselves into the future! It is time to let your Inner Eye free."  
It was one of the most pathetic excuses for a class that I had ever seen, in the three months I could remember. The most interesting thing was Neville breaking two of the cups. But everyone was interested in my 'tea leaves'. Apparently they formed the shape of 'the Grim'. All I saw was a load of muck at the bottom of the cup.

XXX

"Hermione, are we allowed to switch subjects?" I asked her as we made our way to Transfiguration.

"You know, I don't know," she replied, sounding slightly surprised, "I don't know if anyone has before. Why?"

"Because I thought that was a waste of time."

"Well at least _someone_ shares my opinion there. Parvati and Lavender seem to think she's brilliant."

"I think she's a GL. Well sort of, anyway."

"Really?" Hermione asked, interestedly. I nodded.

"Didn't you hear her? 'Danger is near on March 5th'. As if. Hogwarts is one of the safest places ever."

"Yes, I heard her. To be honest, I wouldn't be at all surprised if she was a fraud. 'Thin aura... very little receptivity to the resonance of the future...'" she muttered in disgust about something Trelawney had said earlier, then suddenly burst out, "Old Bat!" Ron and I chuckled.  
When we finally reached the classroom, everyone kept glancing nervously as though I was going to drop dead any second. Professor McGonagall let us in. Ron, Hermione and I sat at the back. It felt as though I was under a spotlight. People kept glancing at me. I tried to ignore them as best as I could and listen to what Professor McGonagall was saying. Eventually, McGonagall cried out,

"What on earth has got into you all toady? Not that it matters much, but that's the first time my transformation's not got applause from a class." People glanced at me again, then Hermione raised her hand and said, "Professor, we've just had our first Divination lesson and we were using tea leaves, and-"

"Ah. I see. You need not say more, Miss Granger. So, which of you will be dying this year?"

"Me." I said, unconcerned. It wasn't like I believed that Trelawney anyway. I had as little faith in her as I did in Gilderoy Lockhart.

"Well, Mr. Potter, let me tell you that predicting the death of a student is Sybill Trelawney's favourite way to greet a new class. I assure you that not one of those students has died yet and if, by some miracle, you _do_ die between now and the next time I see you, you need not hand the homework in." Hermione and I laughed and she continued. "You look in perfect health to me, Potter, so you will not be excused from the homework." There were few glances after that.

XXX

Care of Magical Creatures was good. Hagrid introduced us to 'Hippogriffs'. Hagrid introduced them as 'beautiful' and I kind of agreed with him. They were unusual, certainly, but they seemed to have a mystic aura- and much more than Trelawney had.  
Unfortunately for us, we had the lesson with the Slytherins, which meant with Malfoy and the Gorillas. It seemed that it wasn't just me who was often on the receiving end of his cruel humour. He made fun of Hagrid as well. Hagrid was about twice as tall as a fully grown man and three times as wide. He had thick tangle of wild, dark hair and beard and his eyes were almost black. But as I had learnt last summer, while he may look fierce and scary at times, he was really very friendly and eager. However, I had also learnt that he loved dangerous creatures. Ron had told me all about our trip into a spider hollow last year, and he had also told me about the time we had to sneak a dragon out of the castle. Hermione had been able to tell me more on that subject-apparently Ron had been in the hospital wing at the time, having been bitten by the baby dragon called 'Norbert'.

However, until Malfoy was disrespectful to one of the Hippogriffs, 'Buckbeak', they were completely harmless. So long as we treated them nicely and with respect, they would let us pat their necks, and several of us were even allowed to ride them. It was a great lesson. Well, for most of us anyway. At the beginning of the lesson, Hagrid had warned us that Hippogriffs were proud creatures. Treat them badly and it may be the last thing we do. Apparently Malfoy wasn't listening, because he was mean to Buckbeak. Buckbeak reared and suddenly Malfoy was on the floor, clutching his arm in agony. Hagrid bundled him up in his arms and took him to the hospital wing, dismissing the class as he went.

XXX

By the end of the day, I was exhausted. Sitting at a table in the common room, I sighed quietly and reluctantly pulled my school bag towards me and took out my homework. When I finished, I looked up to see Hermione hidden from view by a stack of books.

"Hermione, how come you have homework for classes you haven't been to yet?" Ron asked.

"What are you talking about?" came Hermione's voice from behind the books, "I've been to all my classes today."

"But you were with us all day! You didn't miss a single class!"

Hermione said nothing.

"Hermione, what are your other lessons like?" I asked.

"They are very interesting- much more so than Divination anyway, and the lessons today were very good. Why?"

"I'd like to see if I could change subject. You say I chose Divination, right?"

"Yes,"

"That means I should be allowed to change it, doesn't it?"

"Yes."

I thought for a minute. "Which subject do you think I would like the best?"

"Well so far, my favourite's Arithmancy, but Ancient Runes is my second favourite. You might suit that better than Arithmancy, but Arithmancy is fascinating, look!" I got up, edged around her pile of books and looked at her homework.

"That looks really complicated." I told her.

"Oh it's not that hard, not really. It's all numbers and patterns."

"Can I see your Ancient Runes homework?"

"We didn't get Ancient Runes homework today, but you can have a look at my text books if you like. They're in my bag." I took her textbooks out, went back to my side of the table, cleared a space and flicked through the books. It looked much more interesting than Divination. Hermione also let me look through her Arithmancy text book. I could see that it looked interesting, but I honestly couldn't understand any of it. I thought I would be able to cope with Ancient Runes better, and, even if I struggled, Hermione would be able to help me out. I stood up and stretched.

"Do we have Divination tomorrow as well?" I asked.

"Yeah," Ron answered gloomily, "a double lesson. Two hours of listening to the Old Bat's going to drive us insane."

"I'll sleep on it then. If it's the same tomorrow I'm going to see if I can change to Ancient Runes instead. It seems much better than starting at tea leaves for an hour."

"Things are often different after sleeping on a decision. That's a wise choice, Harry." came Hermione's voice.

XXX

Divination was just as bad the next day, and the Old Bat (as Ron, Hermione and I now referred to her) told me I had the Grim again. The rest of the class seemed to respect her, but I still thought her a GL. A 'fraud', Hermione called it. After the school day, I went to talk to Professor Dumbledore about changing subject.

Dumbledore welcomed me into his office with a pleasant smile, his blue eyes twinkling and his hair as long and silvery as ever.

"Well, Harry, what can I do for you? Are you having some kind of trouble?"

"Not exactly..."

"Then what can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if we were allowed to change subjects."

"Is Divination not to your liking?"

"Yes. Professor Trelawney keeps predicting my death, although apparently that is normal, it isn't as interesting as some of the other subjects sound. Are we allowed to swap subjects?"

"Yes, it is allowed, but it doesn't often happen. If you were going to change subject, which subject would you like to change to?"

"Can I change to Ancient Runes?" I asked, hopeful.

"To Ancient Runes?" he said, sounding surprised, "Are you sure?" I nodded.

"It sounds really good and much better than Divination. And it will be more useful too. I looked at Hermione's Arithmancy work, but it sounds too complicated, and as I have Muggle relatives, I don't really need to do Muggle Studies, but Ancient Runes sounds more interesting anyway. So can I change to that course, please?" Dumbledore seemed impressed with that speech.

"I don't see why not, certainly not after that little speech, but are you sure?"

"Sir, I don't mean to be rude, but I had a double lesson of Divination today and a single of it yesterday, and I quickly found that I have little patience for it." Dumbledore smiled serenely.

"Yes. Lots of people don't have the patience for Divination. You are not the first to ask to move from Divination. You are not the first to leave it, nor the last, I dare say. Yes, Harry, you can change. But you will be responsible for getting your textbooks for it. You can order them by owl from Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley- in fact, I'm sure I have an order form somewhere..." He began rummaging through his desk. I had to wait a few minutes before he managed to extract it from a draw. "Here you are. Send that using Hedwig once you are able to. You should also change your time table. Instead of Divination, go to the Ancient Runes classroom, ask Miss Granger how to find it, she will show you. Now, I'm afraid I have business to get on with. Good day, Harry, and good luck with your new subject."

"Thank you, Professor."

* * *

**A.N: Please, please review! I would love to know any thoughts you have! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and hopefully the next chapter will be up soon! See you then!**


	3. 3 Halloween and Quidditch

**A.N.: I am SO sorry! I was going to put this up MUCH sooner, but I suddenly had so much to do! I'm back at school again now, too, so updates will probably be slower. As always, anything you recognise is not mine.**

3. Halloween and Quidditch

"Hermione, let me do your Ancient Runes homework."  
"Our handwriting is different! Professor Babbling would be able to tell that it wasn't me!"  
"Our handwriting isn't different when we translate _into _ runes- everyone's got the same writing then. Besides, what other homework have you got to do?"  
"Arithmancy, History of Magic, Transfiguration, and the Potions essay for Snape."  
"And how long would it all take?"  
"Some time..."  
"Exactly! Let _me_ do your Runes for you, then you have one less to worry about!"  
"But, Harry, then I don't learn it! We're supposed to learn it too!"  
"Well, it would help _me_ learn it, and how long does it take you to learn something in a book?"  
"Not long."  
"Exactly! You can learn it when you have more time!"  
"Oh, come _on_, Hermione," Ron cried, exasperated at the stubbornness of our friend, "Harry's offering to do homework by _will_! And _yours_! When was the last time he did that? Besides, it will give you less to do! Oh, and do you remember the last time you didn't let Harry do your Runes homework for you? He did it anyway!" Hermione was reluctant, but she finally agreed.  
"Thanks, Harry, you're a lifesaver," she said as she handed me the work.  
"It's alright, Hermione. Besides, I've finished all my work and I always feel bad that you always have so much." Hermione grimaced at me from behind the pile of books that she always seemed to be hidden behind when it was time to do our homework.

XXX

'Halloween' arrived. Everyone was in a state of excitement. And I had no idea why.

"Why does everyone keep going on about this 'Halloween'?" I asked Ron. "What is it?"

"Halloween is the night on which the Muggles say witches and sorcerers came out to play. There's always a feast, and some sort of display from the ghosts. Hagrid grows these pumpkins that are hung from the ceiling and there are usually live bats in the hall too," he replied.

The feast _was_ good. The ghosts did put on a performance. Nick, nicknamed 'Nearly Headless Nick', gave a re-enactment of his death. Hagrid's pumpkins were so big that I thought that four Hogwarts students about the size of Ron and I could probably fit inside it quite comfortably, and maybe even have room to spare. But I still didn't see why it caused so much excitement.  
"For at least the last two years, something big has always happened on Halloween," Hermione told me. "The first year, our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher let a troll in. It turned out that he was hosting You- Know- Who's spirit. Last year, the Chamber of Secrets was opened and Filch's cat was petrified by the basilisk. People are probably wondering whether something big will happen tonight too."  
It did. We couldn't get into the tower. Apparently Sirius Black had got into the castle and tried to get into Gryffindor Tower. The Fat Lady didn't let him in so he attacked. We heard the story from Peeves, and apparently although we couldn't trust him, he was telling the truth. We had to sleep in the Great Hall with all the other students. I learnt a few new things about magic then. One person mentioned 'apparition'. I had to ask what that was. And I had to ask how he could get past the dementors in the first place, and how in Merlin's Beard he could get into Hogwarts when all the secret passages were guarded, dementors guarded the entire perimeter of the grounds, and what sort of enchantments were around Hogwarts to stop people from getting in. Hermione knew the answers to most of my questions, thankfully, but I'd had no idea about the protective charms around the castle. Not a clue.

XXX

The entire school talked of little else for the next few weeks. I'd had no idea why something like that would be so exciting. I thought it could've been really dangerous. But it fascinated everybody. And the main question that was on everyone's lips, including mine, was _how_? _How_ did he get in and out without being seen? How did he get in at all? Rumours were flying around. He apparated in, he flew in, he scaled the wall, he came in through the dungeons, he knew a secret passageway that no one else did, he knew the darkest secret of the school and used that, you name it. Whatever the theory, no matter how insane it was, _someone_ would have said it.

XXX

The topic eventually wore out a bit. Besides, the other students had another thing to talk about. The upcoming Quidditch match.

XXX

The day of the first Quidditch match of the season was stormy. It was so bad that I wondered whether the match would be cancelled because of the storm. It wasn't. I was especially nervous. I hadn't played Quidditch in front of so many people since... I'm not sure when.  
Two weeks ago, Oliver Wood, our team Captain, had given us the news that even though we'd been training for it; we were not to play against Slytherin today, but Hufflepuff. Apparently Malfoy's arm wasn't fully better yet.  
"But it _is_!" I had said in outrage, "It _is_ better! He can chop things fine in Potions!"  
"We know that, but our word against theirs isn't going to work." Wood had replied. So we'd had to start learning new tactics. Apparently their techniques are almost completely different.  
Now it was the day of the match.  
The first part felt like a disaster. I could barely see, nearly crashed into other people and was nearly hit by bludgers several times. Oliver Wood called for a 'Time Out' and we gathered in the shelter of the entrance.  
"How are you doing, Harry?" Wood asked suddenly.  
"I can't see a _thing_ in these, much less the Snitch," I told him flatly, indicating my glasses.  
"Harry! Harry!" came a voice. It was Hermione's.  
"I've had an idea!" She swept my glasses out of my hands and tapped them with her wand. "_Impervious_," she said, "there, that should keep the rain away from them so you can see." She gave them back to me and I put them on.  
"Thanks, Hermione!" I cried as she ran back to her seat.  
The match went much better after that. We scored a few goals. Then, finally, after what felt like ages, I spotted a golden speck by the goal post. The Snitch! I accelerated towards it. I tried to catch it, but it dodged my hand. The Hufflepuff seeker was catching up. I willed my broom to go faster and sped up. I chased the Snitch up to the clouds, high above the stadium.  
The air around me grew colder. I remembered this cold. It wasn't the cold that had lately begun to fill the castle. It was the other cold; the unnatural one. The one from the train...  
Black shapes flew around me. I didn't see much of them- I saw them out of the corners of my eyes. They were surrounding me. I could already feel the same dense fog as last time starting to creep into me, clouding my senses. Making me feel as though I was drowning. I couldn't form thoughts... Then I heard the screaming. That's when I knew I was in trouble.  
"_Not Harry, not Harry_,_ please not Harry!_" It was the woman again, the same as last time. I was sure of it.  
"_Stand aside, you silly girl… stand aside now_..." That was new. It was a man's voice. Cold and high, but definitely a man's.  
"_Not Harry, please no! Take me! Kill me instead... not Harry, please _... _have mercy… have mercy_..." The high voice laughed. The woman screamed again. I wanted to help her, but I could not... I felt like I was falling, falling through the fog that filled my head...

XXX

"Lucky the ground was so soft."  
"I thought he was dead for sure."  
"But he didn't even break his glasses."  
I had no idea who was speaking. I had no idea where I was. How long had I been here, wherever I was? How long had I been here?  
"That was the scariest thing I've ever seen," said a small, hushed voice. At the sound of Ginny's voice, I remembered. Scariest thing... hooded black things... cold... a woman, screaming... screaming for mercy...  
I wrenched my eyes open.  
"Harry!" about a dozen people cried at once. I looked around, slightly worried.  
"It's alright; you're in the Hospital Wing." Ron said quickly. I hadn't been in the Hospital Wing before.  
"He _knows_ that, Ron, he's been here plenty of times before." one of Ron's brothers said, rolling his eyes and winking at me.

Had I been there before? I wouldn't know.

The others all looked pale, shaky and very wet. I was surrounded by the Quidditch team minus Wood, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.  
"What happened?" I asked, shakily. I meant about the match, but no one seemed to realise this.  
"You fell from your broom. Must've been about fifty feet." the other twin said. I still couldn't tell them apart.  
"We all thought you'd died," whispered Alicia Spinnet, one of the 'chasers' on the team.  
"What about the match?" I asked, "Did we win? Are we going to play again? A replay?"  
There was silence, except for an occasional 'drip' from someone's robe.  
"Did we lose?" More silence confirmed my suspicions. I groaned.  
"C'mon, Harry, you've never missed it before," Angelina Johnson, another 'chaser', said consolingly. But I wasn't disappointed much in myself for not getting it for me, for glory. No. I was disappointed in myself for not getting it for the team, for letting them down, especially since it's Wood's last year.  
"Where's Oliver?"  
"Showers. Still." one of the twins said, "we think he's trying to drown himself."  
Eventually, Madame Pomfrey shooed the team out. Ron, Hermione and Ginny remained behind.  
"Dumbledore was really angry," Hermione told me. "He shot silver stuff at them from his wand and they went away."  
"Then he magicked you onto a stretcher," Ginny continued, "and brought you here. Everyone thought..." she bit her lip and Hermione put her arm around her. Ginny swallowed and continued, "We all thought you were dead."  
"What about my broom?" I asked, "What happened to it?"  
"It erm... Well, it blew into the Whomping Willow, and, well... that tree always bites back..." Ron said uncomfortably, pulling something out from under the bed I suddenly realised I was on. It was a bag. He opened it. Inside was my broomstick. It had been reduced to splinters. There was silence for a few minutes.  
Finally, I said, "I heard the screaming again." The others gasped, looking alarmed. "It was the same woman. And there was a man too, a man with a horrible, cold high voice."  
"Did you hear what they were saying?" Ginny breathed.  
"The woman was begging for the man to leave someone alone. She kept saying, _'not Harry'_. She said, _'take me, kill me instead'_. The man laughed and told her to step aside, and she said, _'not Harry'_ and _'have mercy'_." I looked down at my covers, trying to stop them from being able to see my eyes. "You say my mother's dead. I don't remember, and I don't know if I'm right, but I think she was my mother."  
A few tears spilled from my eyes and down my face, for the woman who was possibly the mother I have never known, the mother I couldn't remember.

**A.N: Please review! Once again, I'm so sorry this chapter took ages to get put up!**


	4. 4 Photos and Words

**A.N.: Hello! I'm back again! I'm really sorry for not updating for so long! I honestly have had NO time at all to do anything other than schoolwork. :( Please don't kill me for it! But hopefully it's going to get a little easier for me now, so I will hopefully be able to keep posting more during term time!**

**A MASSIVE THANK YOU goes to SuperHeroFanGurl for your wonderful wonderful review!**

**Also a MASSIVE THANK YOU to the mysterious guest reviewer known as Wombat! I assure you, I am writing and posting when I can, and I am grateful for you continued support!**

**Disclaimer: even though so long has passed, I still do not own Harry Potter or anything in the books!**

4. Photos and words.

The talk of the Quidditch match didn't last as long as the Halloween talk did. Part of it was already over by the Sunday evening when I came out of the hospital wing, and for that, I was very grateful.  
That gossip only lasted a week.

XXX

One weekend morning, Hagrid sent me a note at breakfast when the mail came. It read:

_Dear Harry, Ron and Hermione_,  
_Are you free next weekend on Saturday morning? At about 10 o'clock? Send a reply using Hedwig._

_Hope you can come,_  
_Hagrid._  
_P.S.: Harry, bring that red leather book that should be in your trunk._

_Hagrid._

I read it out to Ron and Hermione.  
"I don't have Quidditch Practise, so we can go, right?" I said once I'd finished.  
"Yeah, 'course! I wonder why he wants you to bring that book..." Ron said at once. Hermione was slower to answer.  
"Hermione?" I asked, nudging her gently with my elbow, "can you come?"  
"I don't know, Harry. I have so much work to do, I don't..."  
"You could do with dropping something," Ron said.  
"Why not drop Divination like I did, Hermione?" I suggested. I could tell it was a tempting offer. She had a wistful look with her eyes.  
Eventually she shook her head.  
"No," she sighed, "I can't."  
"Why not?" Ron asked in disbelief, "Why can't you?"  
"I can't drop a subject. I'll try to come on Saturday though." She gave me a quill to reply. Ron scribbled out our reply (my writing was still very messy), then I sent Hedwig off. She flew out the doors and then I couldn't see her.

XXX

Saturday came. Ron, Hermione and I hurried down to Hagrid's hut at five to ten. The book that Hagrid had asked me to bring was in my hands. Like he'd thought it would be, I'd found it in my trunk. It was bound in red leather and had gold symbols around as a border. I wondered vaguely if they were runes that I hadn't studied yet and made a mental note to look it up later on.  
Hagrid welcomed and ushered us in with smiles.  
"Did yer bring the book like I asked yer?" he said. I nodded.  
"Why did you want me to bring it?" I asked.  
"Durin' yer firs' year I collected a load o' photos for yer. An' I put 'em in there. I thought tha' I could tell yer who's who. Then I though' tha' Ron and Hermione might want ter see them too. I dunno if they've ever seen them before," he explained. We sat down at his massive table. "Though' we could all have a chat as well. I've only really seen you in classes so far." Ron and Hermione looked slightly guilty.  
"We're sorry, Hagrid, but we've been really busy." Hermione apologised.  
"We did want to come, honest. But somehow we haven't found the time." Ron said, "and you told us not to come after dark."  
"Do students usually meet with teachers?" I asked, confused at why Hagrid was complaining that we hadn't been to see him.  
"Nah, Harry, I was jus' teasin' really." He said kindly, his dark eyes friendly. "So how're you?" Once we've ensured him that were fine, he does too.  
"Get yer book out, Harry, and we'll take a look while I makes us some tea," Hagrid said. I laid the book on his massive table and opened it as Hagrid bustled around making tea, looking over our shoulders and saying, "That's yer Mum an' Dad, Harry, on the day of their wedding." The picture was of a red harried woman, my mother, with green eyes like mine and a man, my dad, with messy black hair and glasses. She wore a white dress, but I couldn't see the pattern. He wore a black jacket, white shirt and bow tie with a white flower in the button hole of the jacket. They waved and smiled out of the photo. They looked happy. Very happy in fact, as though their lives had never been better. Every now and then they exchanged kisses or waved their left hands at the camera where gold rings glittered. My mum had two rings. One of them, the one on top, was a simple golden band. The other one was a golden band with a shiny green stone and nine tiny whiter stones around the green. The green stone matched her eyes.  
"She had diamonds and an emerald on her engagement ring? It's so pretty," Hermione sighed.  
Another was a picture of Mum, Dad and me outside a cottage. It must have been ours. I was in between my parents. I was tiny. Absolutely tiny! I must not have been very old. My parents were beaming with happiness and pride whilst I stared at the camera, dazed and confused. My parents waved one of my hands every now and then and I sometimes tried to put our hands in my mouth, at which my parents, Hagrid, Ron and Hermione laughed. We couldn't hear my parents' laughter, but we could tell they were laughing. Ron and Hermione 'aww'ed together and laughed even more.

XXX

We had a great time at Hagrid's hut. Too soon, we had to go back up to the castle for lunch.  
"Come back again soon, won't yer?" Hagrid said.  
"Of course we will, Hagrid," we replied, and sat at our table.  
The Gryffindors were buzzing about something. Something big had happened.  
"Ginny!" I called when I spotted her coming into the hall with her friends, "D'you know what's happened?" Ginny sat down opposite me.  
"Sirius Black has been seen somewhere! I forget the name, but apparently it's close."  
"Has he been captured then?" I asked. Ginny frowned slightly, "No. Not yet. By the time the ministry got there, he'd gone."  
"Who was it who saw him?" Hermione asked.  
"It was a Muggle. She fellytoned that 'hotline' thing like she'd been told to do and the ministry turned up a few minutes later to find her stunned."  
"He stunned a Muggle?" Ron asked, surprised, "why didn't he just kill her? Black's killed plenty of Muggles before, why not that woman too?"  
"No one knows. Maybe he thought it would be too... conspicuous, maybe."  
"He tried to break into Gryffindor Tower!" I cried, "That's not exactly the opposite, is it?"  
"I know, I agree, but that's the general thought going around. No one can work out why he didn't just kill her. It would've been easier for him to stay hidden that way. The woman could tell people where she saw him going."  
We puzzled over it as we started lunch. Then Hermione said quietly, "You know, it's a telephone, not a fellytone." Ginny shrugged slightly.  
"Muggles and their strange contraptions," she muttered, shaking her head, "how are we supposed to tell the difference?"  
"Ask your dad, perhaps?" suggested Hermione.  
"Why ask their dad?" I asked Hermione.  
"Dad works in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office at the ministry. Muggles fascinate Dad. Everything is interesting in his view. He's pretty much obsessed. Mum thinks it's mad how he keeps collecting Muggle things: plugs, batteries, Muggle ecelectric things-"  
"You mean electric." Ginny shrugged again.  
"I guess." Hermione rolled her eyes, apparently exasperated.

"I thought it _was_ ecelectric?" I asked, confused.

"Oh not you too, Harry!" Hermione groaned.

"What?" I asked. Hermione glared at the others.

"What. Did. You. _Do_?" Ginny shrank slightly at the glare Hermione was giving her and her brother, but Ron didn't.

"I taught him how to say some of the Muggle contraption words."

"You taught him wrong! You should've let _me_ do that, seeing as _I'm_ the Muggle-born here!"

Ron shrugged and stuffed food into his mouth, efficiently ending the conversation. Hermione, however, was clearly unimpressed and launched into a speech about 'how important it was for me to be able to say the words properly' and 'why in the name of Merlin's beard did I let Ron and Ginny teach me the muggle contraption words when _she_ was the Muggle-born and I'd been living with Muggles for two weeks before school' and began trying to teach me the 'proper way of saying Muggle words'. I let her teach me them, but to be honest, I didn't care much if the words were right or wrong. After all, the Muggles that I had lived with had been horrible.

**A.N.: Please Please PLEASE review! It was absolutely _wonderful_ to get a review for the last chapter!**

**I am really very sorry for not updating sooner, but time goes annoyingly quickly at the moment. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to update again before the end of the week, but I'm not sure. I'll do my best to get it up quicker than I did this chapter though.**

**Until next chapter!**


	5. 5 Hogsmeade

**A.N.: Ready for the next chapter? Here it is! Hope you like it!**

**A MASSIVELY HUGE THANK YOU goes to SuperHeroFanGurl for reviewing again! Thank you so very, very much for reviewing not once, but _twice_! :D**

**Disclaimer: Still, I do not own any rights to Harry Potter.**

5. Hogsmeade

The weather was bright and clear, but bitingly cold. It was, after all, December. There was snow on the ground everywhere and Herbology lessons had been cancelled. Most of the third years were excited. There was another Hogsmeade trip coming up. I wasn't so sure if I should be excited or not. I hadn't been allowed to go last time because my relatives hadn't sent the form in like they'd said they would. I'd had to spend the day in the common room by myself with the noisy first years. The first half of the day I did my homework, but for about an hour after lunch I hadn't had anything to do. I'd gone down to see Hagrid, but he wasn't in his hut. I hadn't gone in the Forest. It was forbidden after all. So I'd returned to the common room, and sat there, doing nothing. Around two, Ginny had come in and joined me, and the day had got much better from there. It was nice to be able to talk to Ginny without Ron and Hermione there for a change. I'd only ever had a couple of conversations of just us two. We had talked, played a few games of exploding snap and a game of chess, and then Ron and Hermione had returned, cheerful from their Hogsmeade trip.  
It had been a nice afternoon, but although Ginny had promised to spend the day with me if I wasn't allowed to go again, I didn't want a repeat of the last time. I mean, the morning had been dull (when is homework _not_), and the afternoon had been the same until Ginny came.  
McGonagall kept me back at the end of her lesson on the Friday.  
"Well, Mr. Potter, I expect you want know if you can go to Hogsmeade or not." I nodded. "Your relatives sent the form in last week."  
"So can I go?" I asked, excited now. But McGonagall hesitated.  
"Potter, you do realise that Sirius Black is on the run and looking for you, don't you?" I nodded slowly. "The staff- or, almost all of the staff I should say, feel that it may be safer to keep you in school where we can keep an eye on you and protect you, if Black comes to call again."  
"But Professor!" I cried, "Ron and Hermione will be with me all the time! They can keep an eye on me, _and_ help me if Black catches us! Anyway, there'll be people _everywhere_, it's not like we'll be the only ones around! Black wouldn't be stupid enough to attack me when everyone's watching, would he?!"  
"You may think that, Potter, but the truth is that no one knows what Black may or may not do anymore. It's most likely that he went mad in Azkaban- at least half of the inmates do- and he could attack you. He should already know that if and when he's found, he will be carted back to Azkaban anyway, so if he sees you and can take you out before he goes back then he _will_."  
"But Professor! I can look after myself! I'm not going to go looking for him or anything- I'm not _that_ stupid!"  
"On the other hand," continued McGonagall, ignoring me, "some of the Professors think it would be a good idea to let you leave the castle- to give you time outside the walls which you've been looking at for most of the summer _and_ all of the term time. Therefore, we are letting you go."  
"Thanks!" I cried, grinning from ear to ear, "Thank you so much!"  
"One more thing, Potter- Professor Dumbledore says that you should take your Cloak for emergencies- and that Mr Weasley and Miss Granger would know what he meant." I nodded, even though I hadn't a clue what cloak she was talking about- I had barely emptied my trunk in the summer.  
"Just behave yourself and stay out of trouble," she told me. I nodded quickly again, told her I would and left the classroom.

The first person I met was Ginny- well I sort of crashed into her really. She got knocked down onto the floor. She looked up to see who had knocked her over.  
"Someone looks cheerful!" she said, smiling up at me.  
"Sorry, Ginny! I wasn't looking!"  
"It's alright," she grinned as I helped her up. "You look happy!"  
"I can go to Hogsmeade, Ginny!"  
"That's... great," her smile faded slightly.  
"Yeah, I know!" I cried happily.  
"So... I take it that you don't want me to keep you company?" She sounded almost disappointed.  
Then I remembered.  
"You can't go to Hogsmeade, can you?" She shook her head.  
"See you later, Harry." And she carried on down the corridor leaving me at the classroom door feeling confused.

XXX

I made my way down to Hagrid's, trying to understand Ginny's reaction. I didn't get very far. I hadn't had cause to handle that sort of reaction since I found myself in the chamber.  
Hagrid let me in on my first knock. Ron and Hermione were already there and were sitting around the circular table. The air was tense between them, as if an argument had just occurred.  
"Well?" Ron and Hermione asked together, expectantly.  
"I'm allowed to go!" I grinned, "so long as you two are with me, the teachers think it's fine. Apparently some of them weren't too sure, but I can go!"  
"That's great!"  
"I'm not sure Ginny's so sure..."  
"What do you mean?" asked Hermione.  
"I met her outside McGonagall's classroom." I told them Ginny's reaction.  
"She still-" Ron started, but Hermione cut him off with a sharp look.  
"She must have been looking forward to it," Ron suggested. Hermione looked a bit more satisfied. She turned to me and rolled her eyes at Ron. I gave a smile back. I made an internal promise to get something nice for Ginny in Hogsmeade.

XXX

"What did Hermione not want you to tell me?" I asked Ron as we got ready for bed.  
"Oh... well, erm... Don't tell either of them that I told you, but erm... Ginny's had a crush on you for... years..."  
"Oh..." I wasn't sure what to say to that. Ron chuckled at my face. It must have been a picture.  
I couldn't help thinking that I probably wouldn't ever look at Ginny the same way again.  
"An- and what's that Cloak that Dumbledore wants me to take?" I asked after a pause. Ron checked that we were alone, then began rummaging through my trunk.  
"Aha!" He said triumphantly, drawing out a silvery cape. "This is what he was talking about. Here- put it on." I did, curious. I swung it over my head and drew it around my shoulders. Then, at Ron's indication, I looked down. My body was gone. My mouth fell open in shock and I quickly slid out of it again. My body reappeared.  
"What _is_ it?" I asked nervously, "What cloak is it?"  
"It's your invisibility cloak, Harry."  
"It's my what-whatty-_what_-now-Cloak?"  
"Invisibility Cloak."  
"Meaning?"  
"It makes so that nothing can see you."  
"Oh... So that's why Dumbledore wants me to take it?" Ron nodded.  
"Yeah."

XXX

Hogsmeade was excellent. I loved everything about it- the buildings, the shops, the atmosphere, everything. I was so glad I had been allowed to come. Ron and Hermione showed me everywhere. The Three Broomsticks, Zonko's, the post office, Honeydukes, even the Shrieking Shack at the end of a lane. The only thing that I didn't like was how cold it was. Ron and Hermione assured me that the last time they went to Hogsmeade it had been warmer, but I was always glad to get out of the cold. I remembered my earlier internal promise and got some of Honeydukes' chocolate for Ginny.

However, it wasn't all 'fun and games' (as Hermione might say). By eleven o'clock, the other two had such an argument going that I was beginning to get annoyed. It didn't help that they barely explained what they were arguing about. All I could figure out was that they were arguing over animals. Ron's rat, Scabbers, was apparently very old. And now Hermione had a cat called Crookshanks. Who liked to chase Scabbers. Ron was trying to get Hermione to see that her cat (which Hermione swore was only acting as other cats do) was vicious and had to be kept away from said rat. Honestly, their argument was worse than nearly all that I had had with my relatives before coming to school. Nearly. But there wasn't much difference in them.

_What would happen_, I wondered, _if they don't want to be friends anymore? What would I do then?_

I slowly got sick of the bickering. They weren't stopping. They weren't reaching any new conclusions- they were merely repeating old ones. Would they notice if I slipped away? It was going against what McGonagall had told me to do, but really, all this arguing from two of my best friends was driving me up the wall! And nobody would see me- I would be _invisible_ after all. My invisibility Cloak was hidden in my coat pocket. I drew it out and draped it over myself. The other two didn't notice me vanish.

I quietly slid back the way we'd come, back towards the Shrieking Shack. There was another way we'd got to it. I was sure I could re-trace my steps back to the village and maybe re-join the others once I'd got there.

There was a man looking at the Shack. I tried to quieten my footsteps, but the man turned around and noticed the footprints appearing out of nowhere. I froze and took a look at the man's face.

_I knew the face!_ I'd seen it nearly every morning in the morning paper!

It was Sirius Black.

**A.N.: Dun dun duuuunn…**

**Please review!**


	6. 6 Sirius Black

**A.N.: Hi! Ok, so maybe Operation Update Quicker didn't work. I'm very sorry. I have just not had the time since… how long has it been now? Sorry.**

**I am also very sorry for my awful grammar in the story so far, I will try to change it when I can and I am keeping a close watch on it now. Please tell me any grammar issues so I can sort them out. Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: I would love to say that I own Harry Potter, but I don't so…**

**Now, where were we…? Oh yes…**

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6. Sirius Black

What was he doing _here_? In _Hogsmeade_?!

"Hello?" Sirius Black called; frozen in his spot, worry clear on his face.

I tried to edge away, forgetting that he would see new footprints appear. He would know, though, like I had noticed recently, that ghosts don't make footprints. Not even Peeves could make footprints.

"Hello?" Black called again. I froze. "Is someone there?" He frowned.

I was about to turn back and make a break for it, but then he said,

"Harry? Is that you?"

Was he talking to me, or did he think I was someone else?

"Harry Potter, is that you?"

Now I knew that he was _definitely_ talking to me.

I don't know what made me do it. I was ready to run off, to find Ron and Hermione and not leave their sides again, no matter how much they argued. I would love to say that the criminal put a spell on me, made me do it, or made the cloak fly off me, but I suddenly found myself slowly holding a fold of the cloak and pulling it down and off my head.

Black smiled. Only something wasn't right. It wasn't a mad smile like I'd expected. It wasn't a _'Ha ha fooled you, now I get to kill you'_ sort of smile. It was a smile of relief and pure joy. As though finding me alone was the best thing in the world. Not so that he could kill me, but just see me. As though he would be content with that- happy to walk away, knowing that he'd seen me.

Black reached out a hand to me.

I took a step back.

"I just want to talk," he assured me.

"Talk about what?" I said carefully, taking note of what he said.

"Everything."

"Specifically?" I asked, taking another step back, "You know that right now I should be yelling for help? You're a criminal-" Black flinched, "-I'm not supposed to be talking to you, you could kill me at any second!"

Black nodded. "I know. Except that seeing how I apparently should have killed you at first glance, I think we can safely say that I won't kill you. Believe me when I say, Harry, that I will not hurt you. If I was going to, I would've done so and run off already."

It made sense.

"Apparently? What did you mean by 'apparently'?" I asked.

"I'm not a criminal, Harry. I never _did_ kill those Muggles thirteen years ago."

I was shocked. "What gives you the right to call me by my name?" I demanded after a pause.

Black looked me in the eye. "When you were born," he said, "your parents, James and Lily, made me your godfather." The world seemed to spin, and I sat down quickly on a snowy log by my feet. Black sat on the snowy ground, opposite me.

"Did you know?" I shook my head.

"I don't know much about my parents," I confessed, "but why I just told you that I don't know." I muttered angrily.

"Do you want me to tell you about them?" Black asked, edging nearer to me. I stiffened and he stopped.

"How do I know I can trust you?" I pointed out.

"Well, I suppose you can't," Black said thoughtfully, "unless you use legilimency, but that's extremely advanced magic." He trailed off, thinking. I, personally, was thinking, '_What's legilimency?'_

"How about we make a deal? I promise that I won't hurt you, so long as you let us talk and don't turn me in?"

I thought about this, weighing the possibilities. Not hurting me would be great, and to be honest, I _would_ quite like to find out more about the man who called himself my Godfather and my parents. I only had pictures of them, after all. And pictures aren't stories. I didn't have any stories about them- except for what I'd heard thanks to the dementors, and _that_ had only been my mother. On the other hand, he was a criminal! How could I not turn him in and not get into trouble myself?

"Can I just not tell people unless it's absolutely necessary?"

"Of course!" Black nodded.

"So long as it's just to talk and you promise _never_ to hurt me, right?" Black nodded again.

"Yes!"

"Even for when it's _not_ just to talk?"

"Swear on my life. It's not you I want to kill." he said firmly.

"Ok, I promise." I said, "Then who is it?" I asked, surprised. "Who is it that you want to kill?"

"Peter Pettigrew," Black spat.

"Who's he?"

"Should I start from the top rather than the middle?"

"Yes, please!" I pushed some snow away with my foot, slid off the log and settled myself comfortably on the floor, my back leaning against the log.

So Black 'started from the top'. He told me about meeting my parents on the train, their 'Sorting' – I had yet to see one of those. I couldn't remember mine, Ron told me I'd missed last year's, and I knew I'd missed this year's. Then Black told me about some of their time at Hogwarts: the tricks they'd played, the trouble they'd caused (a lot of these had me laughing so hard I was crying), my parents' friends, how my mum had _hated_ my dad until sixth year, then when they'd finally gotten together in their seventh year. I think he was grateful that someone was finally listening to him. I suddenly thought that he must have been lonely in Azkaban. Then I shook myself. Dangerous criminals don't get lonely. But I rather enjoyed listening to him talk about my parents. He had obviously known them well. Black let me ask questions every now and then. I obviously had many, but I mostly waited for him to answer them in his own time first.

We didn't have much time to talk. Black didn't get past the fifth year of Hogwarts before we heard a noise behind me. Anything I'd found out from after their fifth year, I'd asked about.

"Harry!"

It was Hermione's voice. "Harry! Where are you?!"

"Uh oh…" I murmured, "Erm… what should I call you?" I asked, slightly awkwardly. After all, I knew enough about him to be past last-name terms, especially now that I knew that he apparently 'didn't kill the Muggles thirteen years ago', even though he hadn't got to that part of his story yet.

"Sirius," Sirius told me at once.

"Well, Sirius, my friends are coming. You should go if you don't want to be caught. I won't tell them you were here if you go, _now_!"

Sirius nodded, and before I could stop him, he pulled me into a hug so tight that I struggled for breath.

"_Go_!" I hissed. I glanced behind me, waiting to see Hermione's face. When I looked back, Sirius had gone.

"Harry! _There_ you are! We've been looking for you everywhere! McGonagall's going to have our hides if she finds out that you ran off without us!" Hermione cried, tackling me with a hug. "Ron and I turned around, and you were gone! What happened?"

"I got bored of you two arguing and decided to go another way around." I confessed, pushing up snow with my feet.

"It took you most of an hour to get here?" Hermione asked sceptically, "When there are no paths leading off it?"

"I got… distracted…" Hermione narrowed her eyes as if she didn't believe me. I simply looked back to her. I wasn't telling a lie after all.

Hermione sighed slightly and turned.

"Come on, Harry, Ron's supposed to be saving us seats in the Three Broomsticks."

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**A.N.: HaHA! I have worked out how to put in lines to separate the author notes from the story! FINALLY! :)**

**I know, I know, I probably don't deserve it, but review? Please? Thanks guys!**


	7. 7 Christmas

**A.N.: Hello! I'm back again! I'm sorry it's been so long. A GINORMOUS **_**THANK YOU**_** goes to everyone who has reviewed, followed or favourited! This will be the last chapter until end of May/start of June time because I have my school exams in the middle of May, and my time will be taken up by school work even more than it already is. Oh, and another thing. Some people have said that maybe they should have read _The Memory Charm_ first. Please do!  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything!**

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7. Christmas

I was going to the Dursley's for Christmas.

Hermione thought this was strange.

Ginny thought this was mad.

Ron thought this was downright in_sane_. He kept asking me why I'd go to their house for Christmas.

But really, it was my choice. I didn't know what Christmas with them was like any more. If I hated it, I would know not to go back for Christmas again. If I didn't, I wouldn't know. That was my reasoning anyway, and Hermione told me that she agreed with it, although she didn't like the idea of me being stuck there on my own for the whole holiday.

The Dursleys quickly made it clear that I was unwelcome. My trunk was hidden and locked away in the cupboard under the stairs, to which only Uncle Vernon had the key. They didn't seem to mind that I would get into trouble for not doing my holiday homework if I didn't have my trunk. I spent most of my time in my room, and I quickly decided that I hated being stuck between four walls after the freedom the castle had given me. I needed my trunk back, but how to get it was a good question...  
There was only one thing for it. I would have to steal the key. Back in the summer, I would've disliked the idea of stealth. Now, however, after hearing what Sirius and my Dad had done at school, I thought that borrowing a key to get my school things wasn't going to get me in trouble- and if I got into trouble with the Dursleys, that didn't matter at all. From what Sirius had said and what I'd seen, my aunt and uncle had hated my parents. So why should I abide by their rules?

A couple more days and my plans were set. I was going to have to sneak the keys from right under my uncle's nose. I just hoped that he and my aunt were heavy sleepers.

When the old-looking clock on my bedside table was telling me that it was one o'clock, I crept out of my room as quietly as I could. I dodged the creaky floorboards and was across the hall in seconds. I pulled on the handle into my relatives' bedroom down and opened the door, praying that it wouldn't creak. It stayed silent, thank Merlin. The bedside table was easier to find, but no matter how quickly and quietly I took the keys, they still jingled. I caught them in my hand, holding my breath. Neither my aunt nor my uncle woke up. I crept out of their room and down the stairs. I jumped the creaky bottom stair and landed softly on the hall floor.

Once my trunk was out, I paused. Getting this far had been the easy part. How was I going to get my trunk up to my room without making a lot of noise? I was tempted to get my wand out and use magic, but Hermione had strongly warned me against magic in the holidays last summer, as had Hogwarts. So instead, I heaved it up the stairs as best as I could, pausing every now and then to make sure that nothing was moving around in the other rooms. Nothing was, but I still only breathed a sigh of relief once I'd managed to get all my things up to my bedroom. I crept downstairs one last time and locked the little cupboard.

Creeping back into Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia's bedroom made me more nervous. From my preparations, I'd found that this was a time during which one of them sometimes got up and wandered about the landing for a few minutes. I held my breath as I slid the keys back onto my uncle's bedside table, quietly as I could.

Uncle Vernon suddenly snorted.

I froze, fearing the worst.

Thankfully, he merely turned over and carried on sleeping.

Still holding my breath, I hurried out of their room as quickly and quietly as I could.

I relaxed again once I'd reached my bedroom. I looked down at my trunk, thinking. How was I going to hide all this? I didn't want to lug them up the stairs and back down again every night. Let's see...

Half an hour later, and my trunk was safely hidden right under the bed and out of sight.

I would start my homework tomorrow night.

XXX

The next morning, I found that my aunt and uncle had no idea that I'd been in their room the previous night. I, of course, was delighted. I'd gotten away with it! Of course, it wore off quite quickly, but it was the most entertaining thought I'd had for a while. I loved the idea that I knew something the others didn't, but I had to keep reminding myself to act normal so they wouldn't get suspicious.

XXX

I soon got into a comfortable routine. I would do my homework at night while the others were in bed, and by day I would try to keep out of the way of my aunt and uncle as much as possible. Some of the time, I stayed in my room, often when writing a letter to Ron, Hermione or Ginny, and other times I explored the area around the house. It wasn't long until I found a 'park'. On the first couple of days I hadn't strayed very far from the house- Muggle things like vehicles and bicycles took a couple of days to get used to, especially since I've been around broomsticks quite a lot.  
I liked the park. It was peaceful and full of strange things. I didn't know what they were, or what I was supposed to do with them, so the first time I went there, I sat on railings around the park. I'd had no one around to explain the Muggle things to me, after all. I didn't just sit on the railing after my first time there. No, instead, I tried to guess at how to use the strange Muggle things. I discovered that the round metal circle with bars turned in a circle when pushed sideways, and that if I ran with it and jumped on, I got turned around by it too. The thing that was like a single-person bench dangling from chains on some metal poles was particular fun. I found that if I leant forwards and backwards and swung my legs back and forth under the bench-seat then the bench-thing moved in the same way. I enjoyed it. It was the closest thing to flying that I could do, seeing as I couldn't fly down here thanks to my broom being broken. Actually, now I thought about it, Oliver Wood would be mad at me if I didn't get myself a new broom soon, and to be honest, I was sick of using school brooms. They just weren't the same as my old broom. I made a mental note to order a new broomstick, preferably before I went back to Hogwarts.

XXX

The so-called 'Christmas Eve' came a few days after finding the park, and proved a shock to the system. I wasn't allowed out of the house and it seemed that my Aunt, Uncle and cousin expected me to help out to get ready for the next day. I didn't know what I was supposed to do- this being my first Christmas and all, but I didn't see how it included wrapping things in a strange paper for my Aunt and Uncle to give to my cousin. Aunt Petunia all but locked herself into the kitchen for the day and only appeared at meal times. Dudley spent most of the day whinging about not being allowed to do this or that and kept demanding to know what his presents were. He tried to get it out of me too, not just from his parents, but I never told him what they were. I'd had to wrap at least half of his presents, but that didn't mean he would find out what he got until the day itself. When I found an odd free moment to myself, I slipped away from the Dursleys downstairs and went to wrap Ron, Hermione and Ginny's presents. My plan was to give them to Hedwig tonight for her to deliver to my friends, ready for the morning.

I had just finished wrapping Ron and Ginny's presents when Uncle Vernon roared,

"BOY! GET DOWN HERE!" Annoyed, I sighed, slid the wrapped and Hermione's unwrapped present under my bed and dawdled my way downstairs.

"Hurry up, Boy!" Uncle Vernon yelled up the stairs, "You've got a visitor," he growled.

I thundered down the stairs.

Uncle Vernon opened the door and shoved me outside, along with my coat.  
It took me a few moments to realise that I was outside with Hermione.

"I thought you might want to get away for a bit," she said, smiling.

"Desperately," I agreed, and we set off down the street. My feet automatically set me on the path to the park, out of habit. Hermione followed my lead- I was the one who knew this area, after all.

"This is the park you've been telling me about, then?" she said.

"Yep. But I still don't really know what we're supposed to do with these Muggle things. I've tried to guess, but it's difficult to work out what they're FOR."

"They're for children to play on," Hermione said, "like this, see?"

Together, we went around the park, trying out the different Muggle park things.

A black dog lumbered over to us, obviously looking for some attention. I recognised it as the local stray and bent to pet it. Hermione joined me, stroking it's back a couple of times before shooing it away. The dog lowered its head and slouched off.

"That's a nice dog, that one," I told Hermione casually, "but I think he's a stray. I've never seen him with an owner before."

Hermione pursed her lips slightly, reminding me of Professor McGonagall and Aunt Petunia.

"If you're not careful," she said slowly, as though trying to remember something, "and you fawn over a stray too much or for too long, it will follow you home and never leave. That's what my Mum says, anyway. She's never let me bring a stray home."

"Is that normal in a Muggle household?" I asked.

"Almost always," Hermione replied, nodding.

"I would have no chance of taking him home." I laughed. "Can you imagine the look on Aunt Petunia's face if I tried to take him there?"

Hermione laughed, looking happier than I'd seen her in a while.

"Does the dog have a name?" she asked.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "He's the stray. I don't think anyone knows if he's got a name. I've tried asking people, but when I ask if they know if the dog has a name, they say 'no' and hurry off, muttering about 'dangerous' and 'St. Brutus'' and 'incurably criminal boys'. They seem to be scared of me. I don't know why, and I don't like it." I admitted.

We started walking back to the Dursleys.

"How have your holidays been?" I asked Hermione.

"They've been going alright."

"It's nice to not get homework everyday," I grinned, "but the Dursleys locked up my trunk in the cupboard under the stairs. I got it out when they were asleep," I assured her, since her face grew slightly alarmed, "but they don't seem to care if I get it done. I can't _wait_ to go back to school."

XXX

_'Dear Harry,  
_

_Happy Christmas! I expect you'll love the present, since your old one broke.  
_

_From your ever loving godfather,  
Sirius  
_

_P.S: tell NO ONE that it was from me. If anything, say that it came without a note._

_Sirius_'

I set the note aside and tore the brown paper from the long package my godfather had sent me.

I gaped at the object which had fallen into my lap.

A Firebolt? Wow!

I picked it up, turning it over in my hands. I could hardly believe my eyes. I'd read loads about Firebolts in Oliver Wood's broomstick magazine. But to actually HAVE one! They were very new, very fast, and very popular.

_How did Sirius get this?_ I wondered. The entire country was looking for him! It wasn't as though he could walk into that 'Quality Quidditch Supplies' shop that I'd seen in Diagon Alley last summer. And if he'd ordered it, what address would he have given? He couldn't have written 'Sirius Black' as the receiver without raising the alarm.

A part of me- a tiny part, that is- wondered if this was part of a plot to get others hurt, me included. But the rest of me hushed it up quickly. Surely Sirius wouldn't do that, not now? But what if he _wanted_ me to trust him, and then...

Again, I ignored it. Instead, I grinned and laid it aside with my other presents. I looked at them happily. I had the Firebolt from Sirius (which was lucky, seeing as I hadn't ordered a new broomstick- now I wouldn't have to); Hermione had given me a book all about Hogwarts, called _Hogwarts: a History_. According to her card, she expected me to have read it by the time we go back and that she'll test me on it whilst we're on the train. I found that slightly worrying, but she also said that she'll save me a seat, so I figured that it was a fair trade. Ron had sent me some Honeydukes chocolate and Ginny had sent me a new quill and ink. It was much better than what the Dursleys had given me- they gave me a set of four handkerchiefs. I wondered if this is what happened every year. It didn't seem fair, compared to Dudley's new remote control car, television and 'PSP' (some sort of computer thing… I think), but Dudley always won over me.

I _definitely_ couldn't wait to get back to Hogwarts- especially now that I had my new broomstick. I couldn't wait to try it out! I looked at my chart, which counted down the days I had left before I would go back. Only two weeks left!

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**A.N.: Please, please, **_**please**_** review!**


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